Document Scanning Services Mean More Convenience and Less Paper

Have you ever looked around your office and wondered what you could do with the space that’s occupied by the firm’s paper files? More elbow room for you and your colleagues wouldn’t hurt. If you’re still living in the dark ages of technology, it’s time that you discovered the magic of document scanning services. Andy Morley writes about how freed-up space does wonders for office morale, and how it saves the forests.

Businesses should always be looking for opportunities to become more efficient and reduce costs. One simple way of doing this is to digitize your paper documents. Document Scanning is an efficient option for businesses for a wide variety of reasons.

Room for growth

When you reduce the amount of paperwork in daily operations, you increase the amount of work space. Imagine that the contents of nearly 30 filing cabinets can fit in one DVD. The extra space could accommodate another workstation, a water cooler, or an employee lounge area, perhaps? The company could also move to a smaller location to save on rent costs. Either way, research shows, the less clutter, the better the employee morale.

Information security

If you’re dealing with sensitive client information, paper files in a locked filing cabinet are a security breach waiting to happen. We recently noted a retail manager’s concerns that her employer was not adhering to safe practices, in that they had no alarm system on the store and they were keeping sensitive information such as social security numbers and credit card information in unlocked drawers, which if the store was broken into would be easily accessible and highly valuable in the wrong hands. This is an ideal situation to be corrected with document management services. Scanned documents can either be stored on physical media, i.e. DVDs, flash drives, servers and online or protected virtual servers. Limited access can be granted to officers and IT personnel for security and overall peace of mind.

The beauty of digital documents is that user access can be tracked and recorded. Instead of leaving a paper trail, they leave a digital footprint. Document scanning companies like Spectrum Information Services can shred your documents after scanning to ensure the data’s safety. Lastly, digital documents can be backed up for continuity in case of an emergency, since permanent loss of a pertinent document could be catastrophic for a business and may result in downtime and financial loss.

Improved employee efficiency, customer service

When a customer calls in, representatives needn’t rifle through any paperwork while the customer waits. Digitized documents are categorized and filed electronically, which means they can be retrieved at the click of a mouse. Further, documents can be passed around the office electronically, saving both time and effort.

Saved some trees

If all the world’s offices went digital, the demand for paper would be reduced and fewer trees would be cut. Although all the benefits of going paperless may not be noticed for a generation or so, it’s still important for us to do what we can today to preserve the environment for the next generation to enjoy.